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As restaurants and bars begin to re-open, they’ll need to find ways of making more money, since the number of customers may be down.
Paul Barolotta, owner of the Bartolotta Restaurant Group, says they intend to re-launch with has many customers eating outside.
“We’re probably going to retrofit outdoor seating, and I think people are going to be more comfortable outdoors. Wherever we have the luxury to do outdoor seating, we’re going to do outdoor seating,” he said to John Mercure during WTMJ’s Town Hall on Tuesday.
“The research says, the polling says people are more comfortable outdoors than in a closed environment.”
Bartolotta said that, for example, his Wauwatosa restaurant has to cut down its indoor seating from 52 to less than half a dozen.
“My team is up to it,” he said, explaining his team would have to change how it handles reservations.
“They’re excited to get back in the game, but it certainly makes what’s already a difficult business even harder,” he added.
“Customers will come back when they’re ready. We’ll have to time that accordingly.”
He also said that he expects to have all employees to wear masks and take related protective measures.
“It begins, first and foremost (with) safety and well being. Every decision we make going forward is going to be the balance between the hospitality heart and good, sound, thoughtful business decisions.”
